Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium cultivar Sweet Yostacy.
The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Chrysanthemum plant, botanically known as Chrysanthemumxc3x97morifolium, commercially known as a garden-type Chrysanthemum and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Sweet Yostacyxe2x80x99.
The new cultivar is a product of a mutation induction breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Salinas, Calif. and Fort Myers, Fla. The objective of the program is to create new garden-type Chrysanthemum cultivars having inflorescences with desirable inflorescence forms, attractive floret colors and good garden performance.
The new Chrysanthemum originated by exposing unrooted cuttings of the Chrysanthemum cultivar Stacy, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 11,852, to X-ray radiation in March, 1997 in Fort Myers, Fla. Following the radiation treatment, the cuttings were rooted and terminal apices were removed (pinched) three times to promote lateral branch development. After lateral branches from the third pinch reached sufficient size, terminal cuttings were harvested, planted and flowered in a controlled environment in Salinas, Calif. The new Chrysanthemum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within this population in October, 1997. The selection of this plant was based on its desirable inflorescence form, attractive ray floret color and good garden performance.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by terminal cuttings taken in a controlled environment in Salinas, Calif. since December, 1997, has shown that the unique features of this new Chrysanthemum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.
The cultivar Sweet Yostacy has not been observed under all possible environmental conditions. The phenotype may vary somewhat with variations in environment such as temperature, daylength and light intensity, without, however, any variance in genotype.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Sweet Yostacyxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Sweet Yostacyxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright and mounded plant habit.
2. Freely branching habit; dense and full plants.
3. Uniform and freely flowering habit.
4. Daisy-type inflorescences.
5. Pale yellow-colored ray florets with pink-colored apices.
6. Natural season flowering in early October in the Northern Hemisphere.
Plants of the new Chrysanthemum are most similar to plants of the cultivar Stacy. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Fort Myers, Fla., plants of the new Chrysanthemum differed from plants of the cultivar Stacy in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Chrysanthemum flowered about three to four days earlier than plants of the cultivar Stacy when flowered under artificial daylength conditions.
2. Ray florets of the new Chrysanthemum and the cultivar Stacy differed in color as ray florets of the cultivar Stacy were white with pink apices.